Haven't been using this blog for a while (still trying to find a replacement), but I thought it would be a good place to share my favorite music of 2013. It was a bit hard to pick favorites since there was so much released this year, and I'm sure I'm forgetting about some deserving albums & tracks, but here are 10 tracks that stuck with me throughout the year (I'll make an album list tomorrow):

> (Ghost) - Endless Roads | from "Departure" (n5md)
This whole album was a nice surprise, but this track really stood out to me. Nice flowing track with gentle glitches and soft sounds.

> Ben Q Best - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGVQJKgqgY8 | from "Moonlets/Ben Q Best" (Hel)
Full disclosure: I helped edit this track, and my label released the album it's from. It's a mix of live & studio recordings that turned out really special.Moonlets / Ben Q Best by Ben Q Best

> Ill Clinton - Cool | from "Illanta"
Great production & samples. All around solid track that I kept coming back to. Available to stream/download here.

> Karl Bartos - Rhythmus | from "Off The Record" (Bureau B)
Not really a spectacular track, but it was definitely memorable and noteworthy for fans of Kraftwerk. Sounds like something that could have happened between Computer World & Electric Cafe.

> Steven Price - The Void | from "Gravity" (Watertower)
The Gravity soundtrack had a few nice tracks. This one in particular was very effective & striking during the film.

My new album is now available for listening/purchasing in tape & digital formats for $5 from my new label Hel Audio. "Alpine Sequences" is a collection of short, (mostly) ambient songs that are based around procedurally generated synthesizer sequences.

These recordings were inspired by local Utah geography (Utah, Salt Lake, and Heber valleys in particular) and the song titles reflect this. Lone Peak and Pfeifferhorn are mountains, Hailstone and Keetley are submerged ghost towns, 189 is the road connecting Heber valley and Utah valley, and so on.

The sequences were generated by my prototypical Alpine Music Generation System, which is a method I've slowly been working on to create music within rules I determine, but without my creative input. I started with a batch of 40 sequences for this project, and ended up 20 songs for the album.

I'll be playing two shows with JP Haynie later this month to celebrate the release of his LP The Sand (I will have my Alpine Sequences tape for sale as well). The shows will be happening July 17 @ Kilby Court (SLC) and July 20 @ Black Pyramid (Provo).